


Wild

by LarryUniverse



Category: Larry Stylinson - Fandom, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boarding School AU, College AU, Completed, Footballer!Louis, French!Harry, Goodboy!Harry, M/M, One Shot, badboy!Louis, footballer!harry, larry stylinson - Freeform, over 10k, school au, wild child - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-26
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2018-02-10 12:18:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2024892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LarryUniverse/pseuds/LarryUniverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Partying and drinking was becoming too out of hand, so maybe the option was to send Louis to a boarding academy. Maybe it's the worst highlight of his life, but then again, it's also the best.</p><p>or the au where louis is forced to go to boarding school and hates it from the minute he looked at it but a curly haired, frenchy, photography obsessed stunner changes his mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wild

**Author's Note:**

> My first real AU without constant swearing or abuse or anything because I entered it in the Wattpad's one-shot contest and my stuff is usually rated R. This time, I've milded it down to PG.
> 
> So warnings for swearing. That's it. There's no smut in the story but a whole lot of fluff and flirting with goodboy!Harry and badboy!Louis
> 
> Based on the movie "Wild Child". I think we've all seen this before. 
> 
> Advanced apologies for any mistakes or nonsense. x

Waking early morning to the summer is one of the best feelings - to Louis, anyhow. The sun's shining bright through the blinds and it's making Louis contemplate whether he should wake now for a nine-thirty swim or fall back to sleep with the covers at his chin.

He sits up with a groan, yawning to himself at the mirror on the other side of his bed. He looks awful. Bags are under his eyes, and his skin is quite white-washed compared to other morning wake ups. He doesn't usually wake up this early. It's usually the aftermath of a bottle of vodka the night before which brings him to a horrible sleep late in the afternoon. He loves the mornings; parents aren't home, he gets the house to himself for a while. He wonders why he doesn't do this on a constant.

He pulls the duvet off himself to grab some breakfast downstairs. He might call a couple of mates over for a few drinks later in the day. He'd take advantage of being alone at home. He parties, probably too much for the usual seventeen year old. It isn't normal for a boy of his age to have this much freedom. His mum is too sweet, his dad's rich. Both of them work too hard to care about Louis' interests, and that's basically partying and not giving a damn about education whatsoever.

He's pouring Lucky Charms into his cereal bowl, topping it with almost half of the litre bottle of milk. He enjoys breakfast with the picturesque view of the coastline of Oak Hills. It's seriously stunning.

Louis wouldn't call himself lucky; he's selfish not to think so. A mansion on the top of the highest point of the city, schooling is optional, parties are a day to day schedule for him. He's a seventeen year old boy who's living the adolescent dream.

He's scared out of his skin when his mum comes trotting through suddenly, calling Louis' name as he drops his spoon into the bowl. He mildly chokes on a marshmallow and swallows with difficulty. His mum glowers at him and asks her son how he's feeling. Louis could care less about her and her nonsense questions.

"What are you doing home?" Louis questions. "You're meant to be working."

"I've come home to pick you up."

Louis scoffs, baffled. "Why?"

"Do you remember weeks ago when your father and I talked to you about a meeting we both wanted you to go to?" She asks. Louis is more confused. "We both went to a small interview about Oak Hills Academy to see what it was like."

"Yeah, and this has to do with me how?"

"I'm picking you up because we've enrolled you, Louis."

Louis looks at his mum with a flat face. He cocks up an eyebrow before he starts to cackle loudly. She can't be any more stupid to think that Louis would fall for some moronic thing like this. A school? Didn't his mum understand that Louis didn't want to go to school, let alone this damn academy for academically challenged students.

He wipes at his tear with his thumb. His mum's glaring at him with the same face she had pasted on a minute ago.

"You've got to be joking--"

"I'm not kidding around, Louis," She scowls. "You're attending this academy whether you like it or not."

"I'm not going to some damn school."

"You're going, Louis."

"You can't make me!" Louis shouts. "You said yourself that I could stay here all I like. If you excuse me, I have a party to get ready for."

She stops Louis in his tracks, standing in front of him with her arms folded. She's not impressed. "I want you to pack your bags and meet in front of the car in the next twenty minutes, otherwise, I'll make you."

"Where has this attitude come from, Jay?" Louis smirks, poking at her shoulder. "Think you can make me--"

"Louis! I'm warning you!"

" _Geez Louise_. You better watch your tone."

"You better watch yours, young man. Get your bags now," His mum orders, pointing to the stairs and giving Louis, a nasty glare. "Your father will drive you. He wants no funny business."

"Whatever," Louis hisses at her. "S'not like he's going to make me stay there."

"He will, Louis." Johannah's sick of Louis' act. This is the final plan she had. She's lost, otherwise. She wants the best for her son, and the last thing she wants is for, one day, Louis to go wild with alcohol and partying to the point where he'll drown himself with poison.

~*~

His father's driving him into the countryside, and Louis already knows that this place is going to be half as decent as his toilet.

They've driven sixty miles out from the city centre, and the weather has changed completely. It's like this area is born to look like hell. Clouds are circling around like vultures, and the trees are covering the light. His father's silent beside him, driving with a flat face. He hasn't been answering Louis' questions, and it looks to be like he's not going to bother with Louis' attitude for the rest of the way.

It's an hour later before signs started to appear. They're close to the academy, and Louis can sense the horrific nature of education already. His father pulls into the drive of the school, the gravel road making Louis bump his head against the window, and goes around the roundabout in front of the few stairs which lead to two wooden double doors. He steps out with disgust written on his face.

The school's brick, looking to be four storeys high with windows which looked once to belong to Count Dracula himself. The surroundings are quaint. It felt like winter right now. Louis wants to run away and scream. He's living in a horror film.

He turns, about to open the car. His dad has a hold of his bicep and Louis whines like the brat he is. "Dad, I don't want to--"

"You're not leaving." He sternly remarks. Louis rolls his eyes and sighs heavily, twisting back around to meet with a woman by the door. She looks to be in her early thirties with a small skirt on and a blouse too tight to fit around the massive bosoms she had. She steps down the small flight of stairs and meets with Louis and the father, shaking their hands.

"You must be Louis," She smiles to him. "Please follow me."

"Why should I bother, big boobs?" Louis hisses at her. She grows offended, gasping and standing back at Louis. Louis winks to her and his father takes control.

"Louis, play nice."

"Fine," Louis exhales sharply, faking a smiling to the woman. "Why should I come with you, woman with oversized coconuts hidden in her bra?"

His father's done with him. The lady seems to be also. Louis loves to be cheeky.

She walks up the stairs, and Louis is demanded to follow. He does, walking through the doors of the academy and being led to a room through many corridors. The school seems quiet, for now. The woman stops Louis in front of two double doors labeled headmaster on the side. She's nervous, maybe insecure about her breast size. She grins lightly to Louis.

"Please just try be a little nicer to the headmaster, dear. He's got a cane."

Louis doesn't care, pushing at the doors and letting himself through. The headmaster glares at him and traces his steps as he walks through and sits on a chair in front of the desk. He brightly smiles at the gruff man, fluttering his eyelashes with a couple of blinks and acting like the innocent princess Louis deems to be. He's having none of it.

"Hands out," He growls. Louis knits his eyebrows together before hesitantly putting his hands forward. "On the desk," He rests them flat on the desk. He stands, pulling out a cane and whipping straight across Louis' fingers with such accuracy that it leaves a straight line if Louis put his hands together. Louis bites his lip to refrain from screaming, hiding his hands from the headmaster as he beckons close to Louis and shouts. "Do not be a smart aleck with me, young man, or you'll be facing a world of hell."

Louis thinks that this place is already an abyss of misery.

~*~

He's given room 202. He's forced to take the stairs with his bag and struggles. The headmaster's watching him and the last thing he wants is another strike of the cane.

He manages, somehow, and he arrives on the second floor with the key in his hand. He's strolling down the corridors to meet with his dorm. He opens the door with a jimmy of his key and a push of his hip against the wood before he's stumbling inside and meeting with four fresh faces.

Louis stands up and tries to make up for his embarrassing trip beforehand. He smiles to his roommates. "Uh, hi."

He scratches the back of his neck and looks at each of the individuals. None of them would speak. Louis is nervous from the awkward.

"So, I'm your new roommate!" He hates the bitterness of his roommates already. "This school's pretty shit, innit?"

"Not really," One of them disagrees. Louis could punch him. He's a damn dork with his glasses and passive tone. "You're obviously new to boarding."

"Of course I am. I was only told I was coming here today, and I'm already finding this place a living nightmare!" Louis barks at them. "Which ones my bed? I need to unpack and get dressed into this fucked up uniform."

"It's not a stupid uniform, it could be worse!" The same person argues.

"Look, boy, you're getting on my nerves. Stop pissing off the new kid, all right?" Louis snaps.

"You just don't really get the rules here, _Louis_ ," One of the others snaps. "You're new, we know better than you. We could all be friends, you know. You'll need them."

"Bullshit, I don't need them," Louis scoffs. "Wouldn't like to be friends with you nerds anyhow."

"Calling us the nerds, hm?"

"Heard me correctly, didn't you? Want a prize for that?"

The blonde boy points to the bed, made nicely with a blue and white checkered duvet on top. "That's yours. Put your uniform on, and we'll take you around."

The four boys barge past him, closing the door as Louis gazes at the back of it. It's a school map; it might come handy one day. He walks to the end of the room. It's rather large, actually, and cozy. He settles down onto the bed and rests his suitcase against the bed frame. Louis puts his head into his palms, sighing loudly. He wants to go home.

~*~

His shirt is untucked and has two buttons loose from the top. He meets with the four who look at his shabby clothing style. He doesn't even have the tie on. The snappy one shakes his head.

"Where's your tie?"

"Don't know how to put it on," Louis takes it from his pocket and holds it. The guy steps forward and ties it quickly around his own neck, slipping it off and handing it to Louis. "Thanks."

"I'm Luke," The man introduces, turning to point to the other three. "That's Calum, Ashton and Niall. You're going to have a rough time with an attitude like yours, so I suggest you step it up and try to make some friends."

"What do you know, Luke? Are you a bad arse too?" Louis pouts teasingly. Luke suddenly shoves him.

"I arrived last year and trust me, the experience is not pretty," Luke mutters to him. "Glad I had these three behind my back otherwise I'd be crying into my pillow every night from the first day onward. Got it now?"

Louis gulps. "Fine, all right!"

"And don't pick on Ashton either. He's no different because of his glasses."

"I-I was just kiddin' around."

"Good," Luke smiles. "But that's not going to get you around everywhere. Step up your act, all right? You'll be fine with all this once you get into the system of this school."

Louis nods, all five of them taking themselves to the dining hall. Luke tours him around. The school is no different than what it was to Louis' perspective when he arrived. Everything's old but at least the food is all right.

His four roommates turn out to be okay too. _Four-eyes_  is a pretty chill guy, Calum likes football as much as Louis, Niall views Louis as a god - Louis appreciates that a lot and Luke is someone who's actually a nice person once he's a little more open.

He hates to admit that he's becoming quite okay with the concept of boarding school.

~*~

His  _okayness_  to the school changes entirely when he's forced to his first class later that day.

 _French_. Louis can hardly speak properly without swearing let alone speak a whole different language. Niall's beside him with a grin on his face and Luke's concentrating hard on his work. Louis is clueless on half of the words spoken. It's the first time he's feeling rather down, and horrible - the whole class just laughed at him for saying  _bonjour mon nom est Louis_ , completely wrong.

Apparently, Louis shouldn't have an excuse. Just because his name was French, doesn't mean he's as fluent as he was downing a bottle of alcopops. He's humiliated, and it's only been four hours since he's arrived.

He's back in the dorm with the four idiots, and they're playing some card game which is much funnier than it should be. Louis can hear them laughing through his iPod's music. He snaps angrily at the four boys, ripping out his earphones and sitting up on the bed. They all look at him.

"Can you four just shut up! I've had a shit day, and I'm sick of it."

"Stop being such a peachy bum about the French thing, Louis. It's not that embarrassing--"

"Well, it is, you don't know anything!"

"Seems like you don't know anything...  _about French_." Ashton laughs.

"Shut it, four eyes."

"Hey!" Luke growls. "Stop with the teasing and the cursing. Why don't you go wash your mouth out."

"You four are actually imbeciles!" Louis throws his hands in the air, standing up and dropping his iPod to the bed. "I'll be back later."

He leaves without a second look back. He's absolutely done with this school.

~*~

Bashing through the doors of the school, he exits and runs down the steps with tears wanting to cut through his eyelids. He wants to go home. He'll do anything to go home. He could run home, but it's too far away. He turns on his spot on the gravel, looking for a car he could jumpstart and leave with. There's nothing whatsoever.

He sits on a brick fence, elbows on his knees as he rests his chin on the back of his hands. His fingers are still sore from their whipping earlier. He sighs blatantly, close to shedding those hidden tears. Someone clears their throat next to him as he shoots his head to the side to see the culprit.

Looks to be a boy of around his age, a blazer over his shoulders and a small smile which looked to be something most people would desire.  _He's pretty_ , as Louis would describe him. He's quite a handsome young fellow. This guy could be misleading, however. Someone as prim and proper as him might have a twist.

"Hey," And there it was;  _the twist_. Deep voice, it sounded monotonous. It perks Louis up. "You all right?"

Louis gulps. He's staring at the bloke for too long without answering. The man shakes his head and laughs, moving closer to the wall and popping up onto it. Louis makes room for him, shuffling down as the man suddenly leans forward to put a hand on his shoulder. Louis' eyes widen as he looks at the hand, before looking to the other side where he sees the green leaves of the bush. He was that close to humiliating himself again - about to fall off the fence. This man saved his guts.

"You're a little clumsy, aren't you?" He laughs at him. It's a beautiful laugh. Louis could use that as his ringtone to wake in the morning. The boy notices how Louis' cheeks are firing crimson and immediately apologises. "I didn't mean to make fun of you. You're quite the shy one."

"I-I'm not shy."

"Sure you are. You've been quiet ever since French class," He sneers.  _Shit,_  he was in class with Louis. Louis is growing more embarrassed by the second, stuffing his head into his hands. "You're blushing as red as the tomatoes from the cafeteria."

"Who are you?" Louis asks through his hands. He just wants the pretty boy to leave. "Leave me alone, you criminal."

"Look at you," He grins, pinching at Louis' exposed cheek. Louis squeaks quietly into his palms, making the boy laugh again. "M'names, Harry. I'm in your French class. Heard you're the one that got whipped within the first five minutes of being here."

"What are you going to do about it, laugh menacingly like you always seem to do."

"Nah, just going to congratulate you. You got the new record," Harry says. "Never seen someone at this school who's as rotten as you."

"Thanks, I'm enjoying the endless amount of compliments you're giving me."

"You're horribly sarcastic too," Harry chuckles. "Hey, look at me," And Louis does, reluctantly. "You didn't tell me if you were okay or not."

"I'm fine," Louis lies. "You don't need to worry about me."

"I want to though. You're having a hard time, I know it. It's kinda difficult at first--"

"But it gets better afterwards. You're just as bad as my roommates."

"Who are they?"

"Luke, Calum, Ashton and Neil or something."

" _Niall,_ " He corrects. "And they're all right, to be honest with you. At least you're not bunking with some other group like George's or Corden's," Harry says. He notices Louis' sad sigh and places a hand on his thigh. "C'mon, perk up. Tell me what's wrong."

Louis doesn't want to, but Harry's there. He's just there waiting for Louis to spill out anything and everything to him. Louis really doesn't want to, but Harry's sweet. He's an innocent little bugger, and Louis hates falling for traps like him.

"I was forced here and I want to go home."

"Don't," Harry responds quickly. "Don't go home."

"Why not?"

"Because honestly, you need to give this place a chance," Harry tells. "I didn't like it here either, but it's one of the best places I've ever been to. Trust me."

"Why should I trust you? I just met you!"

"Because who else are you going to trust right now?" Harry grins. "Plus, you can trust the guy with the dimples, now, yeah?" Louis looks to him again to see the two prominent dips in his cheeks. They're adorably cute. Louis starts to giggle, poking shyly at one of them. "Take my word, Louis."

"Only because you made me laugh."

"Good," Harry nods. "I better head off. I have football now. I'll see you sometime later."

He jumps from the wall and heads across the road, down to the oval. Louis breathes happily, watching Harry run from him like some dancing gazelle. He keeps smiling, and that's not really normal. Louis is starting to consider this place, yet again. Maybe it isn't as bad as he thought it was. Harry may be the only reason for the change in thought.

~*~

He's back upstairs, and the four are surprised to see him. Luke decides to comment.

"I thought you were leaving?"

"I just... I thought about it, and I changed my mind," Louis shrugs, walking over to the boys and sitting beside Calum. He looks fond, a small smile still pricking at his lips. Harry's still on his mind. "Yeah, I think I might stay."

"What changed your mind?" Niall questions, resting his cards down. All four are focused on Louis now. "Was it another cane threat?"

"No," Louis shakes his head, still bubbly and giddy. "You guys know of Harry, right?"

"Harry Styles?" Luke questions. "Yeah, the one in the front of our French class. The curly one--"

"Yeah, that one," Louis nods with a bigger grin. "He's nice, you know."

"He's helped me a couple of times, actually," Ashton says. "He's a pretty cool lad. He loves everything. I saw him a couple of times down by the oval with some dandelions, and he was making these chains by himself."

What a damn idiot, Louis laughs to himself, shaking his head and looking down to his lap. He's bashful again, and Luke suddenly notices what was going on.

"Look at him, he's giggling!" Luke points out. "Louis, do you have a thing for guys?"

"Well, kinda," Louis shrugs, still laughing under his breath. "I never really thought about it, but," He pauses and looks to everyone. They're smiling too. Louis has to let lose on his feelings. "Harry's really sweet. He has this dimple grin, and he's just.... He's too cute. I don't know what to feel, guys. I want to see him again and hang with him and... I can't just leave him like this."

"Louis, we can help you," Luke smiles. "Harry's likes a chaser, we've seen him a couple of times with some girls. I don't know if he swings that way, if you get what I mean. Harry's pretty open. He probably fancies you too."

"Well, he seemed pretty open with me. He like... was quite touchy and stuff."

All of them nod with pokerfaced smiles across their lips. "We can get you a date with him, Louis. There's a lot of work you'll need to put into it though."

"Like what?"

"Well, Harry goes for well mannered people for starters," Calum explains. "So your hair should be up and done nicely, buttons up, you should talk without swearing every five seconds--"

"Harry likes people who have the same interests as him," Luke says. "Football is already kinda your thing. Harry likes photography too. He's always taking photos. He's likes French a lot."

"Damn," Louis snaps. "Does that mean I have to listen in class now?"

"Obviously if you want to get into Harry's pants." Niall chuckles.

"I don't want to do that! I just want to go out with him; that's all," Louis informs. "Anything else I should do?"

"You should try out for the football team," Luke tells. "You should start building some type of rep and showoff in front of Harry. He likes chasing the ones who are quite cocky. Guess that's all you need."

Louis sneers, nodding at their advice. Maybe it is a good thing to have these four as friends.

~*~

Hours turned to days, days turned to weeks. Louis has a reputation of what people call to be a moron, but also someone who is quite handsome and appealing to the ladies. That is not what Louis wanted. He wants to appeal to Harry and so far, that doesn't seem to be working.

He's at the oval. He's finally got the courage to go for football tryouts. He could consider himself all right at football. He doesn't want to absolutely flop in front of Harry.

He's seen Harry a couple of times during the weeks. It was never for long periods of time. Louis always had a class, or Harry always had practice. French classes were always the times where Harry would stay away from Louis. Louis is sure Harry didn't mean to stay away. Harry just has a lot of friends, and he loves French a whole lot.

He's given number four, and once his number is called, he steps forward and is given the ball to complete the course. He manoeuvres around cones and poles, finding himself completing the course with ease. Harry's smirking by the stands, impressed by Louis' standard. He finishes off and drinks from his water bottle. Louis is happy with himself, and so is the coach.

All twenty competitors are gathered into a circle as names were called for first and second string. Louis is called for first, and he's given a t-shirt. He's happy, holding the shirt in his hand and moving from the group ready to go to his room to tell the lads the good news. He's walking back slowly in his spike shoes as Harry comes up towards him. Louis waves and smiles shyly.  _Damn,_  he wasn't prepared for this.

"Hi!" Harry shouts, waving to Louis and jogging up close. "You did good."

"I guess I did," Louis grins, showing his player shirt. "First string."

"Looks like you're going to be playin' with me then. How exciting," Harry smirks. "How long have you been playing for?"

"Only a couple of years. I never really played properly though. I've been watching it for so long I think Beckham rubbed off against me."

"You're gonna be as good as Beckham one day, I think."

Louis blushes lightly. "Are you complimenting me?"

"I'm rubbish at being subtle, aren't I?" Harry laughs. "Look at you becoming that tomato again."

He hides his face away with a snicker. "Stop it."

"Not when you're looking all innocent and bashful, you," Harry pokes at his stomach, making Louis yelp and jump back. Harry laughs heartily at him, Louis sneering and poking his tummy back. It becomes a play fight, Harry trying his hardest to get Louis back but he runs away like a goose. Harry catches up and tackles Louis to the floor, prodding at his cheek and chuckling at the breathless boy. "Should be more alert when someone tackles you,  _Lou_."

"The nickname's nice."

"Louis is just too hard to say."

"Shouldn't be since you love French so much."

Harry raises an eyebrow. "How do you know I love French so much?"

Louis is almost ghost-like from being caught out. "I-I...  _uh_ ," He needs to find an answer quick. "Well, how could you not see it? You sit at the front and you just... you're always so enthusiastic!"

Harry nods, agreeing. "I really do love it," Louis could wipe the imaginary drip of sweat coming from his forehead. He sighs his relief instead. "H-hey, Lou, I've been meaning to ask you something--"

"Harry," Someone calls. Both of them look to their right and see a man, a man Louis competed with earlier, running towards the two. "Haz, the coach wants to see you."

Harry sighs, looking down to Louis. He catches the cerulean eyes and smiles. "I-I'll talk to you later."

He stands and jogs away, Louis sitting up and looking down to the grass. He picks at it. He wants to spend more time with Harry. He really likes Harry, more than he should.

Someone clears his throat, and Louis looks up. He thought it was Harry, but it's a man with shorter, curlier hair and was the one who called for Harry. He frowns down to Louis.

"Hey."

"Hi," The man speaks with an aggressive tone. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Louis is close to saying  _no_. He needs to be nice and well mannered to everyone. It's all for Harry. He stands and meets eyes with the man, smiling brightly.

"Something I can do for you?"

"Yeah, there is," He growls. "Stay away from Harry."

"Excuse me?"

"Stay away from Harry. You're in no right to be all nice and sweet with him, Tomlinson. He's my man and you're not going to have him."

"Who are you to push me away from someone like him?" Louis answers back. "You aren't the boss of me."

"I'm Nick, Nick Grimshaw. You're not allowed to talk to him, understand me? Or I'll put you in a world of hell, got it?"

"Bullshit--"

"Tomlinson, I'm warning you," He says, shoving at Louis' shoulder. "World of pain if I see you with him, hm?"

He walks away like he's got a carrot up his arse.  _No wonder he got second string, he's a dumb arse._  Louis shakes his head, about to laugh from the stupidity of this guy. No one can tell him what to do.

~*~

"Who's Nick Grimshaw?" Louis can feel the tension in the room tighten. It's one of their midnight-talk-in-the-dark sessions. They've been having these a lot in the past week.

"He's," Luke starts. "He's someone you shouldn't mess with, Louis."

"Well, he's messing with me because I keep hanging around with H," Louis tells. "He told me to stay away from him otherwise I'll cop it."

"He's a nightmare, Lou. He won't stop with shit unless you do as he says."

"I can't stop seeing Harry though!" Louis shouts. "For god sakes, I don't want to lose what I've got. Harry and I are close-ish now, and I don't want some threat from this dickhead to ruin us!"

"Just be careful, Louis," Calum warns. "We don't want you to get hurt. He'll come for us after also, and we don't honestly want that."

"The support is amazing, guys, thanks," Louis spits sarcastically. "Niall's on my side, right?" All of them wait for a response, and there's none. "Where's Niall?"

"Great," Luke groans. "The bastard's sleepwalking again."

"Niall sleepwalks?"

"He does it when he's hungry during the night," Luke explains. "You're a heavy sleeper, so you wouldn't hear him coming through the doors at midnight. He goes to the kitchen and brings back food. Sometimes we steal it from him."

"Does Niall know about this?"

"No, not really," Ashton chuckles. "Like, he'll try to stop it if he does know about it. And we like the occasional ice-cream snack and stuff."

"You guys are horrible friends." Louis jokes. All laugh together in hope that Niall will bring them something to eat.

~*~

Weeks turned into months, somehow, and it feels like each day is dragging longer and longer. Louis can't help himself to message his friends back home on the school computers. He can't help himself also to start writing in his school books as some kind of journal to keep his mind sane.

He still finds places to smoke sometimes. He's guilty because of it, but he can't help his needs. He's running out of cigarettes, and he's trying his hardest to stop while he can. He sneaks to the pool area at around dinner time and lights up a smoke, huffing it in and puffing it out with a sigh. He leans against the wall of the change rooms when suddenly, a voice calls out to him.

Louis jumps and throws his cigarette down, glaring wide-eyed to the caller. He's at the ladder of the pool about to climb out to talk to him. Louis straightens himself out and coughs quietly, hoping that the smell would go away before Harry comes up to him.

He's shirtless and dripping head to toe wet. Louis finds himself melting on spot as he watches Harry walk from the pool. He's becoming innocent and shy, hands behind his back and a small smile across his face. His cheeks are slightly pink. It always happens around Harry.

"Hey, you," Harry grins down to him. They're much closer this time, Louis notices. "What're you up to."

"Nothing."

"Oh really, because nothin' sure looked like you putting a ciggie into your mouth, bad boy," Harry sneers. Louis rolls his eyes. "I'm sure Beckham doesn't smoke, Lou."

Louis looks away, embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Don't apologise, it's all right," Harry simpers. "Just remember that it's against the rules and you could get a good whipping for that, hm? I wouldn't like to see you get hurt."

Louis shines up to him and becomes dumbfounded at how close Harry really is. He jerks away and blinks, Harry grinning and snickering.

"Didn't mean to scare you."

"I didn't know you were that close," Louis says. "You should really get dry. Dinner's waiting for you."

"Yeah, I should," Harry smirks. "Can I have a hug?"

"I'm not your towel."

"I forgot mine," Harry's wearing a sheepish grin. "C'mon, hug me."

Louis has the temptation to tackle him down, or throw his clothes off and jump into the pool with Harry. He lets Harry bear hug him, holding Louis tight and...  _oh, this feels rather nice._  Louis smiles into the hug and wraps his own arms around Harry, letting his cheek press into his shoulder.

"You're all warm," Harry says. "Should hug you more often."

Louis agrees, sighing merrily into the air. He opens his eyes and sees a faint shadow in the distance. He narrows his eyes to see more clearly, but the shadow fades away. Louis gulps and becomes stiff, pulling away from Harry and looking to him. He looks baffled.

"You all right?" Harry asks. "You... You kinda got a little--"

"I-I," Louis freezes, looking over Harry's shoulder. It's there again. "I-I just saw--"

"What?" Harry looks over his shoulder now, confused. "There's nothing--"

"Don't worry about it," Louis smiles. "Hey, last time we saw each other you wanted to ask me something, remember? But then some Nick guy kinda pulled you away."

"Ah, yes. I can't believe you remember that."

"I'm not  _Dory_  from _Finding Nemo_ , Harry."

"You're as silly and slim as her though."

Louis giggles. "Your compliments are rubbish, still."

"I've been said to be quite the charmer, you know."

"I see," Louis grins. "So go on, what did you want to ask me before?"

Harry looks away with his dimples showing. It's Louis' instinct to poke them. Harry snaps playfully at him and nips at his finger. Louis laughs and waits for Harry's response.

"Well, I-I... I was wondering if you'd... maybe," Harry pauses and gleams to Louis. "Maybe you'd like to go out with me sometime?"

"Like a date?"

"Well, not really--  _yeah_ ," Harry admits. "I-I just think you're pretty cute and all and... I want to take you out sometime."

"Tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, all right," Harry grins. "So that's a yes, I take it?"

"Of course. I'd be an idiot not to."

"You are an idiot," Harry teases, reaching around him for another hug. "God, I've been so caught up with that. I thought you'd say no."

Louis has done it.

~*~

Louis is at practice the next afternoon, a ball under his foot while listening to the coach as Harry walks past him and pinches his bum. He squeaks and blushes to Harry, who shoots him a wink. Louis throws the middle finger at him before Harry cackles. He focuses back on training.

Afterwards, he grabs a drink of water and helps pack the balls into the bag. He finds himself face to face with the one and only Nick Grimshaw again, and he doesn't look to be impressed.

He isn't, shoving at Louis' chest and pushing him to the ground. He doesn't say a word, Louis gasping up to Nick before he walks away. He's warned Louis, but Louis is hardly scared. He has everything Nick doesn't.

~*~

"You guys are clueless!"

"Thanks." All four of them bark.

"Ugh, just... This probably means so much more to me that it should, all right? I-I don't want to make myself look like a fool."

"Just go with what you think is right, Louis," Luke tells him. "You look fine, okay? If you really looked horrible, I would have done something about it."

Louis sighs to himself in the mirror. His hair's fringed and tousled lightly, and his casual wear is on him, a pair of black skinnies with a light button up tee. It's all right. Louis didn't want to look as shabby as he once was, but he didn't want to go prim and proper.

"Do you think we'll hook up?"

"Dunno," Calum shrugs. "None of us have ever been on a date with Harry."

"I don't think anyone has, actually," Ashton says. "He usually goes straight for the boyfriend process. You're a lucky guy, Lou."

"You really think so?" Louis grins, twirling in his outfit. "I really like him, guys. He's so nice."

"We know. You've been drabbling for hours about him."

"Thank you all," Louis blows them all a kiss. "Wish me luck."

~*~

Harry's at the front with a convertible. Louis doesn't know where it had come from, but he certainly doesn't give two damns.

He meets with Harry, hugging him while he's one step from the ground. He's the same height as Harry; the difference is massive. Harry digs his head into Louis' neck and smells the sweet cologne on him. Harry loves the smell.

He pulls away and says: "You smell nice."

"First thing you say to me on our first date," Louis laughs. " _You smell nice._ "

" _First?_  You mean this won't be our  _only_  date?"

"Of course it won't, unless this turns out to be a really shit night, and I would have to avoid you for the rest of my life."

"Hoping that won't happen," Harry grins. "Hoppin' in the car, babe?"

Louis obliges, walking down the final step and letting Harry open the car door for him. Louis thanks him and jumps inside. He felt so posh and rich, like he used to be, in this roofless car. Harry's on the other side, and he starts the car. Louis is very impressed.

"Your car?" Harry nods. "It's smooth."

"Good for sneaking out, innit?"

Louis grins to him. "So we're not really meant to be doing this?"

"You seem worried. Not really somethin' you should be doing, _bad boy._ "

"Fuck you," Louis flicks his cheek. "You're so rude to me, I swear."

" _Grossier_ ," Harry corrects. "You need to learn French a little better."

"What does it--"

" _Rude_ , it means, Lou."

"You make me feel so dumb, I swear."

Harry glowers at him. "You might be dumb, but at least your beautiful."

"Beauty doesn't takeover intelligence."

"No, but it does if you have a beautiful personality." Harry compliments, driving the car out of the gates of Oak Hills Academy.

~*~

They're on the backseat of the car, overlooking the city on one of the other high points of the town. Dinner is half-eaten and beside them, Louis feeling famished and ready to hit the hay at this point.

Harry's arm is along the backseat, framing Louis into himself. Louis has his head on Harry's shoulder; his hand with Harry's unoccupied one and fingers laced from behind. He's breathing easily and feeling safer than he has ever since arriving at the academy.

"S'been a nice night, Lou," Harry says quietly. "Think we might need to head back soon, though."

" _No_ ," Louis whines. "Can't we just stay out here for the night? Who gives a damn about school."

"It'd be nice too, but we have practice early morning, and we can't be late," Harry reminds. "We can stay out here for a bit longer though. I'm still a little too full to drive."

Louis laughs lightly digging his nose into Harry's shoulder and smiling to himself. He shifts his legs to move up to Harry's lap, placing the across his thighs. Harry looks to him and beams, nuzzling his nose to his forehead. Louis jerks back and glares at Harry.

"Your nose is so cold."

"Sorry, love," He chuckles, his arm coming down from the back seat to cradle Louis' back. "Hey, tell me something."

" _Um_ ," Louis mutters. "Football's great?"

"No, something like... about yourself," Harry grins. "Something about your past, hm?"

 _Shit_. Louis didn't want to talk about this. "My past?"

"Yeah, I'm interested," Harry's so determined and sweet. _Ah_ , it's hurting Louis' heart. "What you did before you came to the academy, did you want to do something with your life?"

Louis needs to lie. "O-Of course, I wanted to become... um, a party planner."

"Like for weddings and stuff?"

"Sure," Louis went with it. "How about you, what do you want to become?"

"Well, I want to become a journalist," Harry confesses. "I love taking photos and I've kept a diary full of photos with small captions and stuff. I'd love to do that for the rest of my life."

"What do you take photos of?"

"You know, nonsense, sometimes of special things in my life which I'd always like to look back on," Harry rambles. "Hey, if you don't mind, could you reach forward to the box just there? There should be a polaroid in there."

Louis leans to the compartment box between the seats, taking out the white camera. He hands it to Harry as he thanks him and holds it up in front of him and Louis.

"A photo?"

"Yeah," Harry smiles. "I want one of our first kiss."

Louis looks at him with a flat face. His lips tug into a simper. His heart is racing a mile a minute and feels like it's melting into Harry's. He's so romantic. Harry's really romantic. He's hopeless at so much, but he's so good at being the loveable, compassionate guy Louis has ever wanted.

Louis pulls him in with a hand by his cheek, pressing their foreheads together and smiling - nose on nose and breaths mingling. He leans in and touches their lips together, Harry snapping the photo with the flash being seen through Louis' eyelids. Louis doesn't let go; Harry dropping the camera to the car floor and putting his hand on Louis' hip, holding him in closer.

He closes his lips before moving them against Harry's again. He's surprised Harry jumps straight into it, pushing against him and moving the kiss into a quick snog. He nips at Louis' bottom lip, pulling it and letting himself smirking against Louis. Louis giggles with him and kisses him harder.

Louis stops themselves from going any further. He sneers with Harry and lets his breath comeback properly. Harry leans down to grab the photo, shaking it before looking at the product. The photos perfect and in black and white.

"Going to be a keeper," Harry tells him. "I really like you, Louis."

Louis feels so lucky. "I really like you too."

~*~

He comes home later that night, all the boys awake with sheepish smiles across their faces. Louis rolls his eyes and grins at them.

"We snogged and stuff."

Ashton cheers, the others following and standing up to hug and pat him on the back. Louis laughs and enjoys the attention. He couldn't have done it without these four.

~*~

Months are still the same. It hit five months the other day and Louis is still counting down for the year to be over and for Louis to finally head home.

He can't say he absolutely hates it here now. He still doesn't particularly like it. Harry's all dandy and stuff, and his friends are probably the nicest he's ever had. Nick Grimshaw's still a bastard and he can't wait for the last day to punch him out.

Football's nice, he guesses. The show up of Nick, however, isn't. He doesn't ever come about when Harry's around, leaving Louis more vulnerable. Nick's stronger by every visit and Louis is starting to really show his feelings.

He never tells Harry. On every date, there's bruises and Louis just tells him they're playfight scars between Luke and Niall. Harry would tell Nick, and then Nick would come to Louis. He still doesn't know about their dates, and if he did, Nick wouldn't be afraid to knock Louis out.

He crosses out the day off his calendar, waking up to head into the communal showers for a wake up. He changes into his clothes and walks to the room, seeing all four of them sitting on Louis' bed with Louis' school book in their hands.

"What are you doing?" Louis asks. "Didn't do your French homework?" All of them are frowning at Louis. Louis suddenly feels guilty. "What?"

They all look away, Luke looking down to the book and starting to read.

"Dear diary," Luke started. "I can't wait to move away from this stupid school and back home with my friends, my family, to move away from these four freakish idiot that think I'm their friends. I can't wait to move away from all this bullshit and all this horrible fuckery which these dorks call heaven--"

"What?" Louis gasps. He never wrote that. He would never write something this harsh, even when he first moved here. "I-I didn't--"

"I can't wait to see the look on their faces when I leave. They'll be all upset, and I'll be shoving the finger into their faces because I'd be back in my lovely home, while these suckers stay here like orphans. They're obviously here because their parents were sick of them."

" _Luke!_ "

"Louis, how could you?!" Luke snaps. "This... _This_  is just awful! How could you?!"

"I didn't write that, Luke!"

"You wrote it yesterday!" Luke shouts. "Look, it says clearly you wrote this on the 27th of November! Don't even lie to us, Louis!"

"Luke, I swear to god I didn't write this," Louis pleads. "Please, you have to believe me. I love you guys--"

"Bullshit, Louis!" Niall growls. "You hardly even care. You wrote so much about this bullshit. I can't believe you called me a sheep!"

"And I can't believe you call me four-eyes, still!" Ashton shouts. "I can't believe--"

"Why do you believe that I wrote this after everything else I've done, hm?!"

Luke sighs. "We see you write in this every night, Louis."

"Why are you even looking at my stuff!"

"Why are you even writing this stuff, Louis!" Luke says. "I-I... just... you're not even worth looking at right now."

All four stand and leave Louis in the room. Louis pleads for their forgiveness, but none of them listen. The door closes, and Louis bends down to the notebook and looks at the writing. It wasn't his whatsoever.

Louis exhales heavily. He can't do anything.

~*~

His only option is to go to Harry's.

He knocks upon his dorm room door and sighs. He's upset, and he thinks that maybe Harry can kiss him out of his misery. It's odd for Harry not to answer. It's still early in the morning, and Harry usually sleeps in while all the others have breakfast. Louis knocks again.

"Harry?"

"Go away, Louis."

Louis starts to laugh. "Babe, I want to come lay with you."

"Fuck off, seriously," Louis snaps away from the door, mildly panicked. "I don't want to see you again."

"Harry, don't play around with me--"

"I'm not playing. I don't want to see you. Go away and stay away."

"W-what?!" Louis shouts. "Harry, what did I do wrong?" Louis waits for an answer; there's none. He knocks again. "Harry, for god sakes, just tell me what's wrong!"

Harry opens the door; red-faced with tears staining his cheeks. He shoves a note into Louis' chest as Louis grabs it with a jolt. Harry glares at him.

"Stay away from me,  _Tomlinson_." He slams the door shut in front of Louis' face, letting himself be. Louis stares at the door, bewildered and frightened. He looks at the letter in his hands, reading it shakily.

**_Dear Tyler,_ **

**_God, this place can't be any more rubbish !! Haha, I can't wait to come home and see you._ **

**_You know that guy I've been talking about? Harry? Yeah, well, he's totally in. I can't wait to break his poor little heart when I come home. The bastard totally deserves it. He kisses like a washing machine, and I swear to god if his stink breath comes near me again I think I might vomit !!_ **

**_Hoping this all works out though. Best thing seeing the nice ones breakdown._ **

**_Louis. xoxo_ **

_* sent 27-11-13 *_

Louis drops the letter and goes back to Harry's door, hammering his fist against it.

"Harry! Please! I beg of you. I didn't write this to him!" Louis screams, banging harder. Harry won't answer. "Please! Harry, I'm telling the truth. Please don't do this to me. Please."

He doesn't answer. Louis gives up, sliding down the door and crying his heart out. He didn't want to lose Harry. He can't lose Harry.

He avoids classes. He's too shaken up.

~*~

Louis finds himself one of the dining rooms of the academy, a phone pressed to his ear as he speaks to Tyler. He's rather careless though.

"Tyler, I... I just don't understand what's going on."

"Well, you know you shouldn't have said all those things."

"I didn't though!" Louis mutters. "Haven't you been listening to me?"

"Yeah, yeah, all right, I need to go, Lou." His friend hangs up on Louis. He sighs to himself. He actually has no one.

His friends have kicked him out of the room and has told Louis to stay out until he finds a way to make up with the boys. He's stuck to sleep in the dining room until he finds someone to bunk with. Louis is sure Nick did this. He's sure that Nick has sabotaged Louis' reputation and Louis away from Harry.

It's cruel. Nick has no heart. Louis can't do anything about it. No one would talk to him.

He pulls out a lighter and a cigarette from his box. There's only a few smokes left. He drops the box to the side and picks up the smoke to put into his mouth. There's a noise, and Louis hides the cigarette away and hides under one of the tables. He looks under the cloth to see feet - slippers - to be walking towards the kitchen of the academy. Louis looks a little further underneath to see Niall sleepwalking to the kitchen.

 _Midnight snack cravings_ , Louis reminds himself. Maybe afterward Louis would fetch himself something.

He lights up his cigarette again, leaning back against the wall and sighing. He puffs the stick and relaxes himself. He should just run home now, or take Harry's car. Either way, he needed to get out of here.

He puffs again and puts the cigarette to the side, accidentally lighting the curtain on fire. He curses to himself, smacking the curtain to rid the fire. It dissipates, and Louis sighs relief. He doesn't take any more chances and finishes the smoke and throws it away. He stands and accidentally drops the lighter with the box on the floor, walking away and going to find a place to sleep for the night. The academy lounge sounded all right.

~*~

He can't sleep; he's so torn apart.

He sits against the seat with this knees at his chest. He's looking out the window to notice a bright colour coming from one of the windows. He glares harder, noticing that the colour is moving and changing from an orange to a yellow tone. Louis' eyes widen.  _That couldn't be the dining room on fire, could it?_

It's true. Louis acts quickly, racing up the stairs and finding the fire alarm on his floor. He pulls it, the alarm being set off as he quickly goes to everyone's dorms, knocking hurriedly at their doors.

"Quick! Get out! Get out! There's a fire! Get out!" Louis pounds at all the doors, rushing to get everyone out of their rooms. He's at room 202, knocking and panicking as three of them pop out. They're all rushing to the assembly area where firetrucks have appeared trying to battle the flame.

Meanwhile, the headmaster is calling for all the students and ticking them off the list.

"Jason Hawell."

"Here!"

"Luke Hemmings."

"Yeah."

"Niall Horan," The headmaster calls. Niall's response is missing and causes everyone to glare and look for Niall in the crowd. "Niall?" There's still no response. "Does anyone know where Niall is--"

"Oh my god," Louis shouts, facing Calum and Ashton. "Niall's in the kitchen! I saw him! He's in the kitchen!"

Louis races out from the crowd, people trying to hold him back. He runs into the burning area and covers his mouth to head inside. Firefighters are after him, hoping to get he boy out before he kills himself.

Everyone else outside are nail biting and worrying. The headmaster calls out more names. Louis Tomlinson is called, and there's no response for the first moment. There's a small cough as he raspily shouts out  _here!_  and everyone turns to see Niall in the arms of a firefighter and Louis walking beside him.

Louis sighs as his friends come up to him, hugging Niall and Louis tightly. He knows it's only for a short while, but Louis is glad that he's in the arms of his friends again.

~*~

The investigation has started:  _who started the fire?_

Louis would have come forward to say it was him, but it wasn't. He put out the smoke and he's sure that he didn't leave any type of ember behind. He knew he's going to be busted, however. He can't find his lighter, or smokes, anywhere.

It came to the conclusion of Calum and Ashton coming forward claiming it was Louis. Louis shouldn't have said  _I saw him in the kitchen_  the night he rescued Niall from the fire.

Louis went to the headmaster's office and received a lash across his fingers for arson to the school and given sentence to school court later this week.

Louis is still not allowed back in the dorm, and the fire accusation has made everything worse. Louis is down for football practice for finals this weekend on the oval and moments after he started to kick the ball around; he's stopped.

The coach yells at him. "You're kicked off the team, Tomlinson!"

Louis doesn't argue, sighing as he picks up his water bottle and leaves the field. It's hard to leave with everyone glaring at him. It's harder to leave when he hears "Grimshaw, welcome to Oak Hills Academy Football Team!" being shouted out.

Nick Grimshaw, out of all the people, has replaced him.

~*~

He's facing the judge, some senior from law class, and his opponent is next to him, no other than Nick Grimshaw himself.

Louis has no attorney and is left to deal with this situation himself. The school's behind him as the audience and the trial starts as soon as the final person sat down.

"Louis Tomlinson," Nick gleams, standing in front of Louis with his hands behind his back. He looks very happy to see Louis here. He knows Louis is going to be expelled soon, and Louis can't do anything about it. "I feel like you have some confessing to do."

"I didn't do it."

Nick laughs at him, frowning after to prove his sarcastic point. "Of course you didn't. Which is why your friends, as you would say, would come forward and tell the headmaster you did it."

"You're a bastard you know that!"

"Order," The judge shouts, banging her gavel. "Continue, Mr. Grimshaw."

"Thank you, your honor," He sneers. "Now, Louis, tell us what you were doing at ten at night, in the dining hall of the academy."

"I didn't do it--"

"Any reason why you knew Niall was in the kitchen at ten at night, Louis?"

"He sleepwalks, all right! I know it. He always does it when he's hungry at night!"

"But you saw him, didn't you, Louis?" Louis sighs, shaking his head. "And there we go your honor, absolute proof that Louis Tomlinson was the cause of the school fire--"

"I promise to all of you, I wouldn't do this to harm the school!" Louis shouts. "I know I--"

"Silence, Louis. You have no right to speak--"

Louis faces the judge. "Your honor, may I speak?"

"I give you permission to speak."

"I know I didn't like this school before!" Louis restarts. "But... I wouldn't do anything like this, especially if I knew one of my best friends was in the kitchen that night! I did cause a little fire, all right, but I put it out, I swear to god! I would never do anything like this!"

"Enough, Louis!" Nick slams his hand to the table, silencing the boy. "Now, tell me again, Louis. Why was it that you were in the dining hall at ten at night with a packet of cigarettes and a lighter with you, hm? Breaking the school rules, are we?"

"I... I-I was... _wait_  a minute," Louis pauses. "How did you know that I had a packet of cigarettes and a lighter with me?"

Nick looks to his left, gulping slowly as he looks to Louis. "You said it before."

"No, I didn't," Louis says quizzically. "The only person that knew I had a lighter and smokes was Harry and I told him this months ago!"

"You told everyone before!"

Louis turns around to someone random in the crowd. "Did you know I had cigarettes before?" The man shakes his head. "What about a lighter?" He shakes his head again. He faces Nick with a small smirk. "I knew I put that fire out. I knew I didn't do it."

"I-I--"

Louis stands. "I knew you were out for me and I knew you did all of this shit too!" Louis screams at him, pulling at the top of his ear and facing him to the judge. "He's the cause of the fire, your honor! He saw my leave behinds and used those to start the fire!"

The judge nods. "Grimshaw, you're sentenced to expulsion for arson to the school!" She slams the gavel down, and the crowd cheers. Louis smiles brightly to the crowd behind him, Calum and Luke racing towards him to hug him tight. Ashton and Niall join; arms all wrapped around each other with happiness dancing around them.

Louis would love to say  _I told you_  so to them, but right now, he has a little more respect for his best friends than ever before.

~*~

Finals are here and even though Louis has been kicked from the team; he's still willing to support the team for the win.

He's on the bleachers, cheering for his academy with the boys. The ball seems to always be back and forth, and it's close to full time. Both are nil, and Louis wants Harry to win this for them.

He's got a penalty kick for Oak Hills Academy, and Louis knows Harry can do this. He knows with all his heart that Harry can do this. He has his fingers crossed, popcorn being chewed inside his mouth as he watches Harry kiss his knuckles.

Harry's going to do this. He's going to win it.

He gallops, kicks and slings it straight into the goal. The crowd on the bleachers stand and roar, clapping and shouting  _Oak Hills Academy!_  The siren rings and the crowd screams louder. They've won it. Their first win in ten years. They've done it. Harry's done it.

The players are screeching for joy, shirts over their heads as they run around like headless chickens. Louis and Calum fall into each other, hugging and jumping jovially. All of them are so proud of the team for making it this far.

They're given the premiership cup, Harry holding it in the air and shouting their name.  _Oak Hills Academy_  is shouted once again by the crowd. The chanting continues even after the players have left the field. After five minutes, everyone's gone but Louis who remains on the middle of the field.

Everyone's happy back at the academy and Louis thinks that maybe it's too happy for him to return there. He sits in the field, picking at the grass unhappily. He should maybe see Harry. Harry understands everything now and would maybe ask Louis back for a second chance. Louis would love a second chance with Harry. Harry still means everything to him.

He's pulling at the blades of green still as he hears the clearing of the throat. He looks up, seeing Harry in a changed outfit, nice baggy tee on with some skinny jeans. He's smiling, and Louis stands and brushes himself off. He's glad to see Harry.

"Hi."

"Hey," Louis whispers back. "You still mad at me?"

"Of course not, Louis," Harry says, stepping forward and touching the tips of their shoes. "I-I... I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I didn't--  _oh_." Louis grabs him and forces him into a hug. Louis holds him tight, never wanting to let go. "I'm sorry--"

"Shut up," Louis hisses. "You have nothing to apologise for.

"I do though, Louis. I left you--"

"And you had a reason to," Louis told. "You didn't know it was me, so it doesn't matter, all right? Nick's gone now, I have nothing to worry about, you have nothing to worry about."

Harry smiles to him, his nose pressing into his neck as he beams. "I only have six months left with you."

"I'm staying, H," Louis mumbles. "I'm not going anywhere. I don't want to leave you here."

"Glad I made you stay, aren't you?"

"I've never been so stupid to think to leave. It's amazing here. You're amazing, Harry," Louis confesses quickly. "You're absolutely amazing. You got that damn goal for the school."

"I'll never be David Beckham."

"Who even gives. You're better than David, Harry."

"I really doubt that, Lou."

"Shut up and kiss me, dorkface," Louis presses their lips together, still holding Harry tight with a smile across his mouth. He's missed his soft lips so much. He's missed everything about Harry. He drags away with a breathless voice. "I've missed you so damn much."

"I've missed you too, bad boy."

"Nickname is no longer appropriate, Munchkin."

"Munchkin? Are you even joking with me--"

"You love it, shut up." Louis laughs with him. Louis kisses his nose quickly, blinking to Harry and staring into his eyes for a moment. Harry grins fondly before sighing happily.

" _Je t'aime_ , Louis," Harry says, watching Louis' expression. He's still shit at French, but Louis kisses him wildly. He pulls away as Harry laughs. He knows Louis knew he said something sweet, but he doesn't really know what it means. "I said I--"

"I know," Louis whispers, head dipping down to Harry's shoulder as Louis holds him. This smile will never leave his face. Ever. "I love you too, Harry."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos? :)


End file.
